SBCC’s production of Arms and the Man is visually appealing but fails to connect with a modern audience. The playwright, George Bernard Shaw, though considered a great dramatist, has a body of work that hasn’t proven as timeless as some of his more popular colleagues. While Arms and the Man certainly broaches social reform with its “war, what is it good for” mentality and questioning of the value of strict social class segregation, the script drips with aristocracy. Plays in which the wealthy deal with universal problems consistently have more staying power than those in which the wealthy suffer due to situations of their own design.
Directed by Jonathan Fox, Arms and the Man features many great elements that just don’t align on the same narrative plane. Performers like Leesa Beck, Clayton Barry, and Matthew Tavianini are consistently appealing onstage, but each character in this production has a different understanding of the play’s intended tenor, and the tone vacillates around the target comedic goal.
The story is full of potential — a Swiss mercenary (Clayton Barry) fighting for the Serbian army escapes chase from Bulgarian soldiers by climbing a drainpipe and hiding in the bedchamber of young socialite, Raina Petkoff (Charlotte Hecker). Scandalized and titillated by the situation, Raina aids the enemy combatant, only to be discovered when the war ends and the same man, now called Captain Bluntschli, shows up to pal around with Raina’s father (Major Petkoff, played by Matthew Tavianini) and her fiancé (Major Saranoff, played by Nik Valinsky). Unfortunately, the pacing of the opening-night performance never quite hit a stride that was assertive enough to pop the comedic dialogue, and audiences face a languid, conversational journey.
Some comic bits work well, and perhaps future performance will present a tighter concept with a more homogenous tone. See Arms and the Man through October 25 at the Garvin Theater. theatregroupsbcc.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.